


The Christmas Giraffe

by fandomshere_fandomsthere



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: AU, Christmas, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-16
Updated: 2015-12-16
Packaged: 2018-05-07 03:23:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5441636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fandomshere_fandomsthere/pseuds/fandomshere_fandomsthere
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Being 6' 3'' is a problem when you work as one of Santa's elves.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Christmas Giraffe

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Phanfic. Feedback is appreciated! Thank you for reading :)
> 
> Prompt is from this tumblr post: http://gabrielthetricksterarchangel.tumblr.com/post/133896925712/christmas-au-prompts

“Merry Christmas!” Dan said with a forced smile as he handed the family a picture of their children sitting on Santa’s lap. The parents smiled at the picture, thanked him, and left. Dan sighed in relief. The picture may have been all smiles and rosy cheeks, but the process had been awful. The kids had screamed and cried, wanting nothing to do with Santa. Dan was thankful that he was only an elf--at least he didn’t have to have bratty children sitting on his lap all day. The poor man had had kids cry on him, scream at him, pull his beard, and a few younger ones had even wet themselves in his lap. Dan loved children, but it seemed like nearly every one that came to have their picture taken was a monster.

“Thank God that’s over,” the man dressed as Santa sighed.

Dan couldn’t agree more. He hated this job. But he needed the money. So here he was, standing in the middle of a shopping center in London, dressed as an elf. It wouldn’t be so humiliating if he wasn’t over six feet tall. Many a child had asked him why he was an elf if he was so tall, and even more teenagers with nothing better to do had jeered at him. Dan wasn’t hurt by the comments--just annoyed.

Another family approached the photo kiosk called the North Pole. The little girl smiled brightly and broke away from her parents, running to Santa and wrapping her little arms around his middle. Dan smiled to himself as Santa returned the hug before hauling her up on his lap. It was true that he hated this job, but nice kids like this made it a little more bearable. As the picture was printing, the little girl was staring up at Dan with a puzzled look on her face.

“Honey, don’t stare,” her mother scolded gently. "It's not polite." The girl cast her gaze down to the ground and mumbled an apology.

“I wanted to ask him something,” she whined.

“What is it?” Dan asked. He crouched down to the girl’s level and smiled gently. God, he wanted kids like this some day. She was so sweet and polite.

“Are you a giraffe?” Her voice was so sweet and innocent that Dan couldn’t be offended. As he opened his mouth to answer her question, Dan heard a muffled snort. He looked over and saw a man laden down with several bags covering his mouth, obviously trying not to laugh. The girl’s mother apologized to Dan over and over, but he reassured her that it was alright. Thoroughly embarrassed, the mother thanked him for the picture and left with her daughter and husband.

Dan was startled by a loud guffaw. He saw that the man who had been trying not to laugh was still there, but now he was making no attempt to hide his laughter. He was doubled over, laughing harder than Dan had seen anyone do in a while. Tears streamed down the stranger’s face, and his breath came in short gasps. Dan couldn’t help but join in on the infectious laughter, and soon they were both cracking up, earning stares from many shoppers. After a minute or two, they caught their breath.

The stranger cleared his throat. “That is the funniest thing I’ve heard all month,” he chuckled.

“I don’t know what was so funny about it,” Dan admitted.

“But you were laughing too!” the stranger protested.

“Only because you were,” Dan countered.

The stranger chuckled slightly again and stuck out a hand. “I’m Phil by the way.”

Dan shook it. “Dan.”

Dan was captivated. Phil’s eyes were some of the lightest blue he’d ever seen, with little flecks of green and blue in them. His skin was pale and smooth, contrasting starkly with hair so black that it must have been dyed. Dan caught himself staring when Phil tilted his head ever so slightly as if to ask what he was looking at. Dan quickly averted his gaze, his cheeks feeling warm. He was suddenly conscious of how ridiculous he looked in his stupid elf uniform.

“I don’t blame her for thinking you’re a giraffe,” Phil said. “You’re the tallest elf I’ve ever seen."

Dan chuckled. “Yeah. I almost didn’t get this job just because of that. But I love kids, so they let me have it. Figured I could handle the rotten ones.”

“And can you?”

“They irritate the hell out of me, but I try not to let it show.”

Phil nodded once. “Seems like a good policy.” He glanced at his watch. “I’d better get back to Christmas shopping. It was nice to meet you, Dan.”

Dan felt heat creep back into his face as Phil smiled at him. “Nice to meet you too.”

Phil smiled again and waved before continuing in the direction he was heading before he overheard the exchange between Dan and the little girl. Dan stared at his retreating back but quickly turned away when Phil glanced at him over his shoulder. He hoped that Phil was in the shopping center during his next shift.


End file.
